MERE ANARCHY IS LOOSED: A MASS EFFECT CONTINUATION STORY
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
NELYANA, a Councilor.
LIARA, a Prophet.
JAK, a Warlord.
HARBINGER, a Reaper.
DEVESH, a Pleb.
TALI, an Engineer.
SPIRIT of Rael'Zorah.
The GETH.
JAVIK, an Avatar.
GARRUS, a Spectre.
ARIA, a Leader.
MARK, a Human.
NUTRA, a Quarian.
CHORUS.
[A chorus comments collectively on the course of the plot. They originated in Ancient Greek plays and I think they're overdue for a revival with some modern adjustments; my choruses do not directly interact with characters, for example.]
Bible quotes are a mix of NIV and KJV. NRSV is obviously the best scholarly edition, but KJV is great for literary quote mining 😛
1 - Blind And Naked
"You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." - Revelation 3:17
Many in the galaxy despised one another, but all sapients could agree on one thing: said galaxy was a VERY different place than it was a few decades ago.
The quarians, destitute paupers constantly under stress of extinction; the quarians, inseparable allies and founding brothers and sisters of the Independent League.
The krogan, actually going extinct with little hope of a cure; the krogan, given purpose and salvation and transformed into the protectors of the weak.
The batarians, enslaved; the batarians, a species divided.
The Council, unquestioned rulers; the Council, being constantly challenged.
Peace, true peace was a faint hope. That was another point all were in agreement on.
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ASARI COUNCILOR NELYANA: The galaxy used to be so much simpler!
MATRIARCH CHORUS: Simplicity is comfort, but it is also stagnation.
…
[ERROR: Narrative disruption.]
NELYANA: Forget for a minute the chaos caused by the arrival of humanity and their goddess-damned genophage cure. You shouldn't, but just do it for a second! Because I need your attention, reader! Yes, you!
[pain.]
MATRIARCH CHORUS: GAH! NARRATIVE INSTABILITY!
NELYANA [to you]: Do you have idea how annoying it is to be a Councilor in Steven's stupid stories? What did the asari ever do to you, anyways? We finally get our own story and we lose to the Reapers! And in every other reality I'm always losing! ALWAYS!
MATRIARCH CHORUS: It…was…cool…though…
NELYANA [to Steven]: The time loop? COOL?! Surely you of all people know the nature of nested fiction! I am not real to your readers but a version of me is real in the multiverse.
[anger.]
NELYANA: STOP TORMENTING ME, ASSHOLE!
[Narrative restored.]
COUNCIL ADVISOR: The Reapers are here.
NELYANA: And we must fight them with the Independent League. What a lovely job I have.
MATRIARCH CHORUS: And now we see if Liara was right.
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LIARA: They're here. Goddess, they're finally here.
HANAR CHORUS: Fools! Short-sighted simpletons! Long have These Ones informed the galaxy of the danger posed by those who destroyed the Enkindlers. And yet they fought amongst themselves - fell for the trap on Tuchanka! Shame! SHAME!
LIARA: We played right into the Reapers' hands. Sapient against sapient, we destroyed our planets in the name of vengeance. And now we are not NOT ready!
HANAR CHORUS: We will win. We must win. But the path shall be long and arduous.
2 - The Nations Conspire
"Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?" Psalm 2:1
And so the blood-dimmed tide was loosed, and the people were scattered. Such was according to the Reaper's design. Countless Cycles had perfected the strategy.
Would things be different this time? Perhaps. But the blood of the covenant is thicker than the contract of convenience.
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JAK: Fuck the Council! We don't need those assholes to win!
KROGAN CHORUS: Eternal is the Oath of Protection.
JAK: The Oath of Protection demands that I protect the human and quarian people. It does NOT obligate me to adopt their 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' maxim!
KROGAN CHORUS: Can we forgive the bringers of sterility? NO. Can we fight alongside them? Perhaps. The question is undecided.
JAK: The Reapers will fall before us, as a united League!
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In a bar in League space…
"The Reapers are terrible, but so was the Council during the War. We can beat them."
"No way am I ever fighting alongside turians. Remember the Belari."
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In a bar on the Citadel…
"You can't trust Leaguers as far as you can throw them. I do like their expressions, though!"
"The krogan? Goddess, I am NEVER fighting alongside a krogan army. Just how bad can the Reapers be?"
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LEAGUE CHORUS: Genocide enablers! Bigots! Monsters!
COUNCIL CHORUS: Fools! Reckless newcomers upsetting the careful balance of power!
HARBINGER: Good. The species conspire, and the Cycle is split. It is as intended.
3 - Love Justice
"You rulers of this earth should love justice; you should do what is right and keep the Lord in mind." - Wisdom of Solomon 1:1
The species all fought honorably, in their own way.
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HUMAN CHORUS: We are losing. The combined strength of all four League species is still not enough. We must consider making peace.
QUARIAN CHORUS: Remember the Belari!
KROGAN CHORUS: Remember the Kelphic!
BATARIAN CHORUS: Remember the Oppressed!
HUMAN CHORUS: Always the memories of lives lost to Council barbarism is fresh in our minds. But recriminations will not defeat the Reapers! A peace summit we demand.
[the choruses fight.]
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Arcturus Station wasn't the best place for an emergency meeting between the Council and the League, and it really wasn't the best place for that sort of meeting in the middle of a war. But desperate times called for desperate measures, as the old saying went, and these were desperate times indeed.
"I would like to thank the League for hosting us," Councilor Nelyana began. "I understand there is little love lost between our species. But for the sake of the entire galaxy, we must work together in this immediate moment."
"To start this conference," she continued, "let us first outline a series of public apologies from the Citadel Council, to be made to the quarian and krogan people on behalf of the Krogan Uplifting, the Second Contact War, and the response to the Geth Rebellion."
The League representatives stared at her in shock. She smiled, and calmly continued her speech.
Centuries of diplomatic training had its uses, after all.
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DEVESH H'RTHAT: Your presence is not welcome, but neither is it unwelcome. I shall use the arrival of the Reapers to my advantage.
REAPER CHORUS: The Cycle cannot be stopped. You will fall just as quickly as the Masters did.
DEVESH H'RTHAT: That is where you are wrong, and you shall see this through my actions.
REAPER CHORUS: Arrogance is common amongst all organics. Little do they appreciate of the power of the Cycle. Of the might we represent.
4 - Meditating Day and Night
"Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." -Joshua 1:8
TALI'ZORAH: And so begins my Pilgrimage.
SPIRIT OF RAEL'ZORAH: O, beloved daughter! How I lament that your journey to Rannoch must be made. For my promise to deliver you the homeworld was broken by the most fleeting of accidents.
TALI'ZORAH: It's not that I don't appreciate what the humans have done for us. But we must have Rannoch back. We will never truly be equals if we don't reclaim it.
SPIRIT OF RAEL'ZORAH: Brave is her spirit, and my admiration for it knows no bounds. But what of her safety? What of the Geth, hiding and watching? What of the Geth that have chosen to attack in the open?
TALI'ZORAH: I don't want to die, but I'm ready for it if that's what it takes. May the Ancestors grant me strength.
ANCESTRAL CHORUS: We shall.
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Tali'Zorah felt surprisingly calm for a quarian who was in the heart of a Geth space station. All things considered, the Geth had been surprisingly accommodating. Polite, even.
She supposed she could understand their motivation for that…
"So these…'heretic' Geth have sided with the Reapers?"
"Correct," the Geth mainframe replied. "The Creators abandoned us, and so we looked to a new leader." It paused. "Correction: the heretics looked to a new leader. We are the five percent of Geth who remained. We will determine our own future, independent of the Old Machines."
Another pause, this one longer.
"We have not achieved consensus on the last statement. Some Geth believe we can only achieve our purpose by serving the Creators."
"This is all a lot to take in…" Tali shook her head. "Regardless, we should focus on what must be done. What would you have me do?"
"We will construct a mobile platform to accompany you back to League space. We ask that you convey our offer of a peace treaty, and assistance in fighting the Old Machines. We will prove our intentions in battle."
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GETH: We regret the deaths of the Creators during the Morning War.
ADMIRALTY BOARD CHORUS: Regret? Somehow we feel that is not strong enough of a word.
GETH: Both of us can trade recriminations for the past. It would be easy, and emotionally satisfying for you. But that is not what must be done in order to defeat the Reapers.
[pause.]
ADMIRALTY BOARD CHOURS: The Geth speak the truth. Long have we despised one another, and long will that animosity persist. But for the sake of defeating the Machines, we must put it aside.
GETH: Consensus achieved.
5 - United In Mind And Thought
"I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought." 1 Corinthians 1:10
Javik woke.
And as soon as he did, he was met with a united galaxy.
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JAVIK: Your machines cannot be trusted. You should have destroyed them.
ADMIRALTY BOARD CHORUS: We do not disagree! But we must deal with things as they are, not as we wish them to be.
JAVIK: And what will you do with them if you defeat the Reapers?
ADMIRALTY BOARD CHORUS: What would you do, Prothean?
JAVIK: I would destroy them.
ADMIRALTY BOARD CHORUS: At what cost? They will not surrender their existence without a fight. How would we eradicate them?
[the debate continues.]
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COUNCILOR NELYANA: On behalf of the Asari Republics, we apologize for the concealment of Vendetta and our contempt for the Independent League.
INDEPENDENT LEAGUE CHORUS: We do not forgive. We do not forget. REMEMBER THE BELARI! REMEMBER THE KELPHIC!
NELYANA: We remember both, and we do not take those mistakes lightly. But neither the Citadel Council nor the Independent League will survive if we do not work together.
[pause.]
INDEPENDENT LEAGUE CHORUS: We agree, but we are not happy.
NELYANA: Neither are we. But it is what must be done.
INDEPENDENT LEAGUE CHORUS: So be it! We will eradicate the Reapers once and for all.
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KROGAN CHORUS: We will never forgive you for the genophage!
ASARI CHORUS: We will never forgive you for Lusia!
KROGAN CHORUS: But we must stop the animosity for but a moment, and defeat the greater threat.
ASARI CHORUS: Indeed we must!
[armistice.]
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LIARA: At long last! Why did it take so long?
HANAR CHORUS: The Enkindlers were far more effective in ensuring peace, as the Enkindler of Vengeance has made clear.
LIARA: The Crucible…such a remarkable device. So intricate…but incomplete, by every cycle.
HANAR CHORUS: The Enkindlers did not win. We walk upon their graves. Now we shall avenge the spirits that watch us from afar.
[CHORUS APPEARANCE: deus ex machina.]
PROTHEAN CHORUS: And so the Multiuniversal Afterlife holds us, and gives us an eternal Empire amongst the heavens. But have we forgotten the mortal plane? No! For the Reapers claim to be immortal, and this is an abomination with their methods. We must show them the truth.
LIARA and HANAR CHORUS: We shall show the Reapers the truth - for us, and for those who were lost in the time before.
6 - Not To Send Peace
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." - Matthew 10:34
JAVIK: What has been discovered in the Mars Archives?
PRIME MINISTER: Plans for the Crucible. A weapon that will destroy them all.
JAVIK: Vendetta has said as much to me. Countless Cycles had worked on it. Perhaps we shall be the ones to complete it.
[pause.]
JAVIK: The weight of my people falls upon my shoulders.
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JAK: The weight of my people…
KROGAN CHORUS: Falls upon your shoulders.
JAK: I will protect our charges from the Reaper menace. And I will work with those we once called enemies.
KROGAN CHORUS: They are not clan. They cannot be clan. But perhaps they can be ally.
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GARRUS VAKARIAN: The weight of my people…
REAPER CHORUS: Will be crushed by us!
GARRUS: Spectres are the galaxy's eyes and ears. I will not allow them to break my spirit.
REAPER CHORUS: Indoctrination cannot be escaped! We will find you, and convert you to our cause.
GARRUS: NEVER!
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The attacks become more unified, more effective. The animosity between species was put aside (not forgotten).
And slowly, the tide began to turn.
7 - Producing Hope
"…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope…" - Romans 3
It happened as it did in many realities.
The Crucible was completed with little time to spare. Upon firing, all Reapers in the galaxy instantly died.
But what happens next?
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CITADEL CHORUS: We have won.
GARRUS VAKARIAN: We have.
[pause.]
GARRUS: And now we can look to the future of all sapients. Which means rebuilding, and reconciliation.
CITADEL CHORUS: Pain we will feel at the mistakes of the past.
GARRUS: As you should!
CITADEL CHORUS: You are a Spectre!
GARRUS: That does not blind me to injustice. And the Citadel Council have not been just rulers of the galaxy. We must acknowledge that to move forward.
CITADEL CHORUS: We accept, but we do not wish to.
Epilogue: Not The Righteous
"…But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." - Matthew 9:13
—
CITADEL, LEAGUE SIGN PEACE TREATY; GALACTIC WARS AT AN END!
—
Liara relaxed in her chair as the human liquor did its magic. This was her first time visiting League space, and so far she was having a very good time.
"Mind if we sit here?"
Liara looked up to see a human and quarian couple holding hands and smiling at her expectantly. She nodded in the human fashion and they sat down at her table.
"So, the war's finally over," the male said. "I'm Mark, by the way."
"Nutra," the quarian chimed in.
"I'm Liara!" she smiled. "And yes, indeed it is. Goddess, I'm so glad people finally listened to me."
Mark's eyes widened. "Holy shit…it's you!"
"Keelah…" Nutra shook her head - aliens tended to adopt human body languages after staying on Earth. Though most humans would not consider quarians to be aliens.
"Guess you were right, huh?" Mark asked, and began to relax. "Don't think I've met a celebrity before."
"Me neither," Nutra agreed.
"A celebrity? That seems…"
Liara paused.
"…well, I suppose it's accurate, but I always wish people took what I was saying more seriously. It took the Reapers actually arriving for…" she trailed off.
"For everyone to realize you were right all along," Nutra finished. "But what happens now?"
"What do you mean, babe?" Mark asked.
"We're done, Mark. We won. The League and the Citadel are finally at peace. It's going to take some time for tensions to cool, but…things are good right now. Very good, actually."
Liara stared at Nutra for a minute, then abruptly started laughing. She wasn't sure why, but the reaction seemed appropriate to the situation. Her new friends apparently agreed, as they quickly joined in.
Sensing the moment, Mark raised his glass. "To new friends, and new beginnings!"
All three happily toasted the future.
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A/N: Oh wow, I'm SO nervous to post this. It took me much longer than most of my works do - several weeks. This was my dream project, and I hope I did the story justice in my own writing style.